Essay on India, My Country Speech for Students

India is a developing country and it is rapidly moving forward in the direction of emerging as a superpower and lead the world. Every citizen should be aware of the culture, history, geography, and features of India. Students are often asked to write an essay, speeches, paragraphs on topic topics like My country India, India-an emerging superpower, I am proud to be an Indian, history of India etc.

So in this article, we have given you all the information about the country India, it’s history, geography, problems faced by India, Indian culture, traditions, heritage, festivals, sports, India’s economy, Indian army, education system, etc. This information will help you while writing the essay, speech, paragraph on India. So let’s start.

Essay on India, My Country

Introduction

The country we all take pride in is our country ‘India’. An introduction to India is a fairly difficult one given the sheer history and rich heritage it associates itself with. Geographically, it is the seventh largest country in the world and second most populous country with an area of 3.287 million kilometer square and 132.42 crore population till 2016. Bounded by the Indian Ocean in the South and Himalayas stretching from northernmost flank till northeast region, India has rich diversity in terms of biodiversity, wildlife, and climatic situations. Monsoon currents originating near Persian Gulf area, travel directly towards India that gives India a definite monsoon season providing ease and convenience of superior agricultural practices.

History of India in a nutshell

The term India according to research, originated from the river Indus that formed the basis of the Indus Valley civilization in this area during 3300 BC to 1900 BC, popularly known as the Bronze Age or Harappan civilization. The name Indus River was drawn from the Sanskrit word Hindu, which was the popular term for the Sindhu or Indus river. India to that respect saw flourishing civilizations right from Mesolithic period (The Bhimbetka cave shelters in Madhya Pradesh produces the testimony of that) and the Indus valley civilization was amongst the oldest alike the Mesopotamia and Egyptian settlements. Remains of Harappan civilization in today’s Punjab in Pakistan and scattered places in Rajasthan, Gujarat, UP and Haryana shows it to be a highly modern one with excellence in irrigation and sewage systems as well as having sound economic and urban base.

Around the late BC period, Iron Age crept in India, which ushered in the Vedic period, that saw the onset of the caste system, various rituals based on religion and caste, writing of scriptures. Later on, towards the fag end of ancient India, Buddhism and Jainism came into effect and borrowed several ideas from Upanishads which are the last part of Vedas.

During medieval India, the rise of monarchy and dynasty based leadership came into being with several Kingdoms existing together marked by frequent confrontations over territorial expansion. During this time, ruler Bharatha existed on whom later another name of India, Bharatvarsha was coined. The Cholas, Mauryas, Guptas were chief rulers where Ashoka was the popular Buddhist ruler who established the famous Ashoka Pillar, which was adopted as the symbol of modern India post Independence.

Towards the end of the 10th century, medieval India saw the influx of regular Islamic army who ultimately established the Islamic rule in 1206 with the Delhi Sultanate being established under Qutab Ud Din Aibak. Thus starting the unique synthesis of Hindu Islamic thoroughfare. Mughal rule continued till the mid-1800’s till the Britishers established their leadership in the Battle of Plassey and post Sepoy Mutiny, brought India under direct British monarchical rule away from only East India Company.

A long battle for freedom, persuaded by stalwarts of Freedom movement including Lala Lajpat Rai, Mahatma Gandhi, Frontier Gandhi, Master Surya Sen, Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose, MA Jinnah, ultimately led to India achieving complete Independence from British Raj in 1947 August 15 after the creation of Pakistan getting created under Partition of the country.

Indian Geography

Few countries are as blessed as India with respect to the geography it is endowed with. While the Himalayas in the north till north east act as a natural barrier to the foreign invasion from places beyond that, it also protects India from bitterly cold winds that blow in Siberian regions. The Himalayas also form a major part of the plate tectonic system of India, which is located on the India plate of the Indo Australian plate tectonic system. Further, acting as the interruptive block to the monsoon winds, Himalayas help India have monsoon across north, north-east, east and north-west of India. The arterial river of Ganga originates in the mouth of Himalayas in the north which makes it the most revered river in the country.

In the Center, is located the Deccan Plateau Region of India that makes Central India act as the tabletop which furthers the occurrence of adequate rainfall by acting as an intercept to the south-western monsoon current. River Narmada, Cauvery originating in the Deccan Plateau provide the essential source of water in an otherwise arid topography.

Towards the south flanked by the Arabian Sea in west and Bay of Bengal in the east merging into the Indian Ocean in the extreme south, India is separated from Sri Lanka by the Palk Strait. The vast access to oceans gives India a natural protection under a strong naval armed base.

India before and after Independence | India: Then and Now

The Independence Movement in India became a watershed to determine huge changes that crept in pre and post it’s occurrence. Prior to Independence, despite the glorious past India had, the British Raj destroyed it economically and injected absolute poverty by constant wealth drain. Democracy became the buzzword for Independence Movement and there was active propaganda for progressive education and social reforms came into a place like banning of Sati, women education, free press.

Post Independence, the hallmarks of democracy were applied in the governance of the country. Five Year Plan program, a prepared blueprint for development programmes across the decades and definite socio economic goals were set for achievement. The Judicial system of India, based upon the Constitutional Recommendation, was formed to deliver unbiased justice overriding even any executive power. To enhance the spirit of democracy universal adult suffrage was invoked from day one in post Independence India, to enable every citizen cast their vote.

India in Science and Technology

Jawaharlal Nehru was an earliest architect who recognized the significance of promoting science and technology as a movement led by India. With the vision of setting the stage in South Asia for world class scientific study, the Planning Commission had specific aims regarding setting up of Institutes dedicated for the study of science and technology. Indian Institute of Technology was opened in Kharagpur in 1951, as a first.

Indian Space Research Organization or ISRO established in 1969, opened the path of India’s journey into space technology. ISRO has for itself, India’s very own satellite program, launch vehicle program, an extra terrestrial research programme and other varieties listed under Department of Space. Chandrayan program or the Mars Orbiter Mission are recent and super successful examples of the excellence in ISRO’s research in science where they have even beaten NASA’s budget for the same missions.

Physical Research Laboratory and Bhaba Atomic Research Center, the Tata Instutute of Fundamental Research besides the IITs, IISERs AND IIMs form the backbone and cradle of high end research in scientific disciplines as well as management skills.

The chief problem that plague the domain of Indian science and research is the lack of scientific culture among most people. There is a big difference that exists between what is taught as a discipline and how things go at home on the basis of religion and customs. Also, there is a general apathy towards invoking scientific practices if they clash with traditional customs. For example, many people still fear eclipse and say it brings bad luck. More awareness regarding the study of science is ought to be brought in.

India in Education

The Constitution of India provides for free education to all till 14 years. Although the literacy rates in India has improved to 74 percent yet the remaining percentage is still outside the ambit of education and literacy. Various adult education programs too take place in India, like the Grama Shiksha Mohim in 1959 and literacy mission of National scale in the 1990s. India’s commitment to Global Sustainable Development Goal of 2030 makes it pledge to achieve absolute literacy in youth and a substantial adult population. Initiatives like Sarva Shiksha Abhiyaan, Beti Padhao Beti Bachao are all in lieu of the large population still reeling under the darkness of illiteracy.

The scope of education is lessened as many families with very little income see their children as a potent earning member. Also, the cases of drop outs because of malnutrition and associated with the development of cognition is a huge problem facing Indian education scenario. Many women are still denied education as they are viewed as child rearing objects.

To tackle these issues, mid day meal system, the Anganwadi system was developed where pupils attending school were entitled to healthy meals during school recess. Parents were encouraged to send their kids with lunch as a bait. Recently the government has come up with the plan for providing free education to girls till their college so that women achieve equal literacy rates.

Economy of India

Indian economy remains one of the chief backbone of the world economy. From a developing country economy, the journey to one of the fastest growing economies in the world was a meteoric success. In 2017, India’s GDP registered a steady growth of 7.2% according to the Central Statistics organization. According to data of the NASSCOM, India ranks third in the base of start ups, the current driver of a country’s economy, with over 4500 start ups based in technology and over 1000 gaining momentum every year. Index of Industrial Production rose to over 7 percent in 2018 January while retail inflation fell below 5 percent. The purchasing power parity of India remains at the third position which makes it a high demand market for industrial and commercial chains.

Despite such illustrious statistics, Indian economy time and again faces a significant threat in the form of high rates of tax evasion. Recently demonetization threw a bad patch in the Indian economy and temporarily slacked down the GDP growth rate. Besides, recent bad loan accumulation owing to fraudulent corporate practices like the Vijay Mallya, Nirav Modi incident make it diffcult to establish a straight graph of credibility in the economic sector.

To combat these, the Reserve Bank Of India provides for effective guidelines from time to time that seek to address financial and economic concerns. Public Sector Units have been made more accountable from time to time so as to plug in the discrepancy of any kind.

Indian Army

The Armed Forces of India, is our chief guaranteer of national security. The Armed Forces comprise of Indian Army (the land based armed forces), Naval and Air Force contingent. The Indian President is the Supreme Commander of Indian Armed Forces. The Indian Army is directly responsible for the ultimate provisioning of security around borders as well as is looked upto in matters of National Emergency.

The Indian Armed Forces procure their equipment under the Department of defense Production under Ministry of Defense and is revered for their discipline and service to the nation. During the Kashmir floods of 2014, Gujarat Earthquake of 2000 or the tragic terrorist attack of 26/11/2008, the service rendered by Indian Armed Forces was unparalleled. Indian Army is also involved in several Peace Keeping Movements across the world including in Africa and the famous operation in Sri Lanka against the LTTE.

Internationally, Indian Armed Forces are recognized for their integrity and bravery without arrogance in face of adversity. However, in Jammu and Kashmir where Indian Army have special powers, there are several allegations of human rights violation by Armed Forces activities.

Indian festivals: Drawing the Unity in Diversity from Culture

The unique flavor of India lies in the way it celebrates the various forms of culture it synthesizes within it. The rich heritage spanning across villages to urban areas is unified by the means of celebration where every community has the freedom to celebrate with equal rights and fervor. The Constitution of India granting the fundamental right of culture and religion without discrimination gives the first step to guaranteeing the concept of Unity in Diversity.

From the start of the year by festivals like Onam, Lohri till Holi the festival of colors or the pious celebration of Eid and Muharram till the end of the year marked by Navraatri, Diwali and Christmas, India has enough joyous episodes punctuating almost every month in the year. These festivals are never celebrated in isolation but people crossing community lines participate in it. Ganesh Utsav of Mumbai and Durga Puja in Bengal see the confluence of every community and religion across the days of festivals.

Problems faced by India

Every country has their own set of problems that needs to be tackled by the population itself. India is no stranger to various problems that it face. Some of them are

Unemployment: Despite steady increase and improvement in industrial sectors, unemployment is an issue that India still grapples with. A reason being a high level of lack of skill development based on the skills modern employment needs. Also, the disparity of available vacancies and the population surplus remains a problem.

Poverty: India ranks one of the highest even in the 21st century as the Millennial Development Goal summarized that over 200 million of Indians still remained under the poverty line in the years 2011-12.

Population: Despite the fact that human labor is an asset yet with respect to the area, resources India has, it housing over 13 percent of the World’s population alone is not a great mark of achievement unless everyone can be brought under the ambit of education and proper economic opportunity.

Illiteracy: The huge population that is still not literate becomes a liability for India in the long run as without literacy they run the risk of remaining marginalized economically as well as might tend to be duped into committing unlawful activities.

India As Emerging Superpower

Being granted the status of an upcoming Superpower is no mean feat. This has been possible only for the unending toil the common people, government and governance of the country has made together. Cricket of India is a major sector where India has forever gained International accolades uniting people loving sports. In major sporting events like at Olympic and Commonwealth Games, India managed to bag prestigious spots. In 2018 itself India has secured an overall 3rd position which makes it an enviable goal to secure.

By 2050 India envisions itself to dedicate actively for promoting environment causes, Peace across nations and a vigorous involvement in International Politics. For long India has tried to get itself on the Security Council Membership of the United Nations and keeping in mind that IMF ranks India as the most potential economy in future, the dream ultimately might come true. While superpower status is highly coveted, my motherland is ought to be developed on the lines of social justice and equality.

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Ajay Chavan

Hey guys! I am Ajay Chavan, a small town guy walking down the path to my dream. A hell-bent person who never gives up.
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